Virgin's first biofuel flight takes off from Heathrow

Billed as a green fuel breakthrough in the aviation sector, the world's first flight by a commercial airline partly powered by biofuel touched down in Amsterdam today after a three-hour journey from Heathrow airport here.

Virgin Atlantic's Boeing 747 had one of its four engines connected to an independent biofuel tank that it said would provide 20 per cent of the engine's power. The flight did not carry passengers.

According to Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson, using technology to develop greener fuel options will not only lower emissions but will also allow for other global warming issues to be tackled.

"It's not necessarily going to be the silver bullet for the long-term future but it will prove that a fuel like this can fly at 30,000 feet," he was quoted as saying by BBC.

"The demonstration flight will give us crucial knowledge that we can use to dramatically reduce our carbon footprint," he said.

The biofuel was derived from a mixture of babassu nuts and coconuts. The three other engines were capable of powering the plane on conventional fuel had there been a problem.

Earlier this month, Airbus used the world's largest passenger jet, the A380, to test another alternative fuel "" a synthetic mix of gas-to-liquid. The three-hour Airbus flight from Filton near Bristol to Toulouse on February 1 was part of an ongoing research programme.

Many environmentalists argue that cultivating biofuel is not sustainable and will lead to reduced land for food.